The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1887-09-07

. Sex G&ncc Of many
HN>SSSyssSsA, years in IA M,
kcsk7sgaNss r. had gone b. tho
40 sysS name of the Rus
SWSY7E#55S sian Doctor" was
:I5 j.: e.: !: T.: =. !. i: i: i:
grape vines that
one could scarce have found the door
knob but for its brightness from con-
slant securing. \ large, old-faSh-
ioned garden. in which both flowers
and weeds were allowed to grow at
their own sweet will. stretched far be-
hind the house. and ended in 4 forest
OF beeches, path through which led
to dilapidated rustic temple on the
brow of a hill. This temple. which oc-
cupied an open space, was tlacked by q
weather-beaten stone table, surrounded
by wooden benches, and had. evident
", been reared by some lover of nat
ure. But the death or absence Of its
owner had allowed the place to fall
into decay, and no one IN the little
town had cared to expend time or
money for its restoration.
Dr. Arnim Elbthal had won great re-
nown and an extended practice in that
distant Russian city. Wonderful stories
were told of his skill. which had. in
deed, been phenomenal. These stories
the Russian servant. Ivan, whom he
had brought home with him, endeav-
ored to confirm in his broken German.
resort;ng to expressive pantomime when
words failed him. According to Ivan,
his master had cut off innumerable
noses and ears, to say nothing OF arms
and legs, and no one had ever felt pain
under his knife. Incredible things in
glass jars adorned his slceping-cham-
Der. These Ivan busted every morning
with reverential awe and not without
secret longing for the spirits in which
they were preserved. The doctor sonle-
times wondered that the spirits in
these jars had so often to be renewed,
and that his store of Turkish tobacco
disappeared in such incredible ways.
AS none of the other servants smoked.
and the housekeeper detested the
s.ilthy weed" Ivan must have been
the sole tranSgreSsor. In spite OF
cheeks often diStended, and an odor Of
excellent tobacco he carried about with
him, he denied this pcrsiStcntlv. and
the doctor contented himself with an
occasional scolding. Unable to speak
Russian, although he both read and
wrote the language, he had been
obliged to make out a list of reproving
words from the dictionary. This list,
which began with rebel and ended
with dog" he would read from his
easy-chair with great soiemnity; the
delinquent standing before him and
listening with an air OF utter annihila-
ton. until, at the last word, he would
kiss the seam of his master coat, and
slip ike guilty thing over the thresh-
old.
Fraulein Marianne, the doctors
cousin and housekeeper, had often in
sisted on the dismissal Of this SAY
aee;'' but Ivan was to the doctor a liv-
ing reminiscence of q strange. active
life on a. foreign soil. He had
thought to remain in hasan to the end,
but the inheritance of q small fortune
through the death of q distant relative
he had scarce known awakened in him
sudden homesickness for Germany,
and for the secluded little town afar
from railways, where his cradle had
stood. and which in an age Of restless
activity still dreamed on as it had
dreamed on for hundreds ofyears.
Having purchased this vine-wreathed
house which, during all those years in .
foreign land, had stood before him
a sort of enchanted vision, he sum-
moned his orphaned cousin Marianne.
a model housewife, as his minister Of
the interior. Marianne inde.I sighed
mentally that her cousin had chosen
for a home his native town rather than
some great capital, with its constant
succession of new faces and amuSe-
ments. But yet the idea of reigning
sole mistress of household appeared
so beautifu, and cnticing that she
would have followed the doctor to the
ends of the earth She had always
liked him; she felt great respect for
him; his only fault in her eyes was an
open aversion to marriage a physician
who remained single was, to say the
least, unwise. Arnim would ward of
her frequent reproaches on this score
bv declaring that the unmarried
physician, like the Catholic priest, is
much more efficient than the married
one, being wholly devoted to his call
ing without the distraction of outside
interests.
..Only those undeterred by thought
of wife OF family sacrifice themselves
cheerfully, if it comes othat. he said.
s.Mv patients can attest that am not
destitute of heart. Hitherto | have
had no time for love to the individual;
now it rs TOO late. Why need l marry
when hans's like yours keep my house
in order and Ivan serves me so faith
fully? Why Seek to realize personally
those torlnentS which the poets tells Us